CA wants business to pay part-time workers 4 hours pay for any change in their work schedule

I spend much time fighting against ever-higher California taxes. But ask any business person what is worst about California, and “taxes” will NOT be at the top of the list. I conjecture that California LAWS and MANDATES take the top spot, with our LITIGATION climate in 2nd place, vying with our high COST OF LIVING for that runner-up spot.

Included in that top spot is the new $15 minimum wage, a cost that is far, FAR greater for most businesses than any tax increase. Especially so when one remembers that social security contributions and workers’ comp premiums are calculated in part on the amount of the employee pay.

Add to that business cost the latest scheme below, where (among other things) any company that changes the work schedule of PART-TIME workers without two WEEKS notice will have to pay the worker four hours of pay for the inconvenience.

Ultimately the goal seems to be to greatly reduce the number of part-time workers, because these folks are unlikely to join a labor union. Which explains who is BACKING this measure.

According to the “Business Climate” analysis by the Tax Foundation, California is ranked 48th worst. Only New York and New Jersey get lower scores.

But I gotta’ think this is a lagging indicator, unable to keep up with avalanche of new anti-business laws passing yearly in the Golden State. To be fair, I suspect NY and NJ are vainly trying to “keep pace” in the race to the bottom (a.k.a. “Workers’ Paradise”), but I’m confident our California state and local politicians are more than up to the challenge. Are they ever!

A Stiff Jab at Flexible Work Schedules

After the California minimum-wage increase, next up is dictating when employees do their jobs.

Labor unions in California won’t be taking a break after their victory Monday, when legislators and Gov. Jerry Brown announced a tentative deal to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022. Another economically destructive campaign is already under way: Unions want lawmakers to dictate how businesses schedule employees’ work.

The idea first gained traction in San Francisco when a coalition of labor unions and union-backed organizations joined together to advocate for a “Retail Workers Bill of Rights” ordinance early in 2014. The ordinance passed later that year and took effect in July 2015.

The entitlements include: a requirement that employers provide work schedules two weeks in advance, with a penalty of up to four hours of pay for subsequent changes; a requirement to provide up to four hours of penalty pay for scheduled on-call shifts when the employee is told not to report; and a requirement to offer more work to certain part-timers before hiring additional staff. The challenges these provisions present should not be surprising to anyone familiar with the inefficiencies of a unionized workplace.

For instance, imagine an ice-cream shop faced with an all-day rainstorm during peak summer season. A work schedule created two weeks earlier could not have anticipated the storm and the resulting lull in customers. No matter: The late schedule change means that the shop must pay workers whose help is no longer needed. For a business with small profit margins, a few such scheduling problems could mean the difference between a profitable and unprofitable summer.